Some Choose Hell

Soldiers of Barrabas #9

by Jack Hild

THE SOBs SLAM INTO BOSS... And run head-on into hell. A prominent South African black bishop is going to make a provocative speech in the black township of Soweto. But proapartheid forces are planning to assassinate him as soon as he mounts the podium. In an attemp to prevent this murder planned by the South African Bureau of State Security-BOSS-the SOBs become locked in a life-and-death struggle between the corrupt forces in the white population and black and white antiapartheid cells.

Racial and political tensions erupt in a volcano of seething hatred, and the SOBs are standing in the path of the lava.

220 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

About the author

"Jack Hild" is a pseudonym shared by multiple authors ghostwriting the Soldiers of Barrabas (SOBs) series of action-adventure novels. The most prolific of these authors were Robin Hardy and Alan Philipson.

Despite Hild's output being the work of several authors, the novelist Warren Murphy provided a cover endorsement saying "Jack Hild is simply the best and gutsiest action writer around today."

In backmatter to some of the SOBs books, the publishers Gold Eagle jokingly stated Hild's "whereabouts are unknown. No one associated with Gold Eagle Books has ever seen Jack, in person or in a photograph... If you should ever meet Jack Hild... let us know."

Reviews

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in this underrated series. This one takes place in South Africa, circa 1985. The days of apartheid. Not to many men,s action books that I have seen even touched on S. Africa. They all mostly took place in Northern Africa.

Johannesburg is about to consecrate a black bishop. The "inner circle" a group made up of well to do South Africans plan to kidnap him and replace him with an impostor. After the impostor is sworn in they plan to assassinate him. The one black SOB just happens to be in the area, and Col. Barrabas is gets wind of the plan and goes in to try and stop it.

This was a great little action novel. The descriptions of the riots in Soweto blends fact with fiction very well. The author does this and action scenes very well. The author handles the racial tension nicely.

[Arizona Spartan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book the SOBs move forward leaving the past behind and are embroiled in the conflict in 1980s South Africa. I liked the book well enough and it was a good step forward for the series. There's no past Vietnam baggage here and Claude Hayes gets some good page time and development. A good entry in the series but not as good as some of them are. I thought the political themes were relevant for the period without being too heavy handed. The bad guys were done well and weren't chewing on the scenery all the time.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great chapter in the saga of the mercenary group the SOBs. In this one the group is caught between blacks and whites fighting in South Africa. They are there to supervise the security for a new black bishop being consecrated. The group is stonewalled at every turn and find out that the people that are suppose to be protecting the bishop has plans of their own. However they fail to realise how good the SOBs are and that they seldom fail.

Lots of action and a well developed story, this is quickly starting to be my favorite group based Gold Eagle series. Highly recommended.

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The SOBs are caught in between pro and anti apartheid forces in a South African hell. Political and racial tension are boiling out of control as an assassination plot to take out a leading black Bishop nears fruition.